Yemen: 20 Senior Members from Saleh’s Party Turn against Him

Jeddah, Riyadh – A senior member from the General People’s Congress Party (GPD) said that he and 19 other party officials joined the “legitimacy” after refusing the directions of the party’s leader, ousted president, Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Issam Sharim, head of the GPD in the city of Hodeidah told Asharq Al-Awsat in a telephone interview from outside Yemen that the party’s senior members who announced joining the legitimate rule in Yemen, already left the country to Arab states after being threatened by Saleh’s supports and rebel militias.

Sharim added that contacts are ongoing with other leaders from the party to settle their conditions ahead of leaving Yemen.

He said that GPD senior members who already left Yemen were also contacted to discuss a number of issues, mainly the possibility of meeting with Yemeni President Abdrabbuh Mansur Hadi.

The official also spoke about arrangements to isolate Saleh from the party’s leadership because he was ruling based on his sect instead of referring to the “People’s Congress” and the nation.

“A mechanism capable of implementing those measures would be presented through the organizational committees, a step that requires an order from President Hadi,” Sharim said, also calling the legitimate government in Yemen to embrace the defected officials who wish to join its ranks.

In a related development, the UN will hold on Tuesday the Humanitarian Response Plan for 2017 to raise funds to address the humanitarian crisis in Yemen. The one-day conference will be held under the auspices of the United Nations and with the support of the Swedish and Swiss governments to mobilize immediate support for Yemen.

Yemeni Prime minister Ahmed Bin Dagher arrived to Geneva with a number of Yemeni ministers to participate in the conference on behalf of his country.